Radiant gas burner device for heating

ABSTRACT

A high efficiency radiant heating device for heating radiant heat absorbers, and method of constructing high efficiency radiant heating devices. The device has an element which upon heating emits radiant energy. The radiation emitting element is selected to have high emissivity at wavelengths closely corresponding to those determined to be absorbable by the absorber.

United States Patent [191 Solbrig et al.

[451 July 17, 1973 i RADIANT GAS BURNER DEVICE FOR HEATING [75] Inventors: Charles W. Solbrig, Idaho Falls,

' Idaho; Sanford A. Weil, Chicago; v Robert B. Rosenberg, Evergreen Park, both of III.

American Gas Association, Inc., Arlington, Va.

[22] Filed: Oct. [9, 1970 [2|] Appl. No.1 82,109

[73] Assignee:

[52] U.S. Cl. ..432/3l, 34/4,431/329, 126/92 [5 1] Int. Cl. F26b 3/28 [58] Field of Search 263/2, 52; 34/4 INLET FLOW OF METHANE AND AIR HHH/ [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner--.lohn .l. Camby Attorney-Molinare, Allegretti, Newitt & Witcoff [57] ABSTRACT 15 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures BURNER BLOCK (MAY BE CONSIDERED -N' RADIATOR COMBUSTION PRODUCT REMOVAL FIRST RADIATOR) 8 -'+woRK OR ABSORBER 3/1966 Smith,.lr ..34/4

'PAIEIIIEIIII H918 3.746.504

F I5. I INLET FLOW OF METHANE AND AIR HIIIII/ BURNER BLOCK (MAY BE CONSIDERED 6 FIRST RADIATOR) 9 4(l-l)RADlr'-\TOR COMBU$T|ON ZONE 0 i RADIATOR (i+I)RADIATOR 4 r-l-H-H N RADIAToR /z 2 COMBUSTION RRoDucT REMOVAL L- -WORK OR ABSORBER -RESISTANCE ELEMENT -(i-|) RADIATOR /0 -'ILb RADIATOR (i+|)RADlATOR RADIATOR 2 L-- WORK OR ABSORBER (MAY BE CONSIDERED FIRST REFLECTOR RADATOR) RADIANT GAS BURNER DEVICE FOR HEATING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method for making radiant heating devices and, more particularly, to a method for making a high efficiency radiant heating device.

There has been a large increase in the use of radiant heating devices as a means for providing heat energy. Examples of the use of radiant heat range from domestic cooking and patio heating to industrial processes such as paper drying or glass forming. In a survey of twenty manufacturers of infrared equipment to obtain their estimates of the potentiality of radiant heating devices, it was found that the average prediction was that about one-third of the total heating market will be eventually captured by radiant heating.

The increasing use of radiant heating devices, both the electric type and the gas or fuel burning type, can

be traced to the advantages of radiant heating for particular applications. These advantages include the simplicity of generating infrared energy; the high rate of energy transfer which is possible with infrared energy; and the selective absorption of infrared energy by solids. The high rate of energy transfer is particularly important in industrial operations where higher production rates can be achievedbecause a product can be heated more rapidly. The selective absorption of infrared energy by various materials is advantageous in such applications as comfort heating in large open spaces such as warehouses and patios. Since infrared energy is primarily absorbed by solids and not by gases, people can be heated without heating all of the surrounding air. The use of radiant heat in industrial processes can result in large economy of costs by eliminating the heating of large volumes of hot air.

The available radiant heating devices, both the fuel burning type and the electrical resistance type, are manufactured to optimize the rated efficiency of the heating device. The rated efficiency of a heating device may be defined as the amount of heat radiated by the heater divided by the amount of heat supplied to the burner, multiplied by 100. Such a rated efficiency shows thefraction of the heating value 'of the fuel, or of the electrical energy supplied to the heater, which is emitted or radiated. Heretofore, it has been assumed that the most efficient radiant heating devices are those having a high rated efficiency. Unexpectedly, we have found that the most efficient radiant heaters are not necessarily those having a high rated efficiency. 'We have also found that the most efficient radiant heating devices for a particular heating operation is one which takes into account a number of factors, including the nature of the material to be heated, as to be described below.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention I to provide a novel radiant heating device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for determining the efficient construction of radiant heating device for a particular application.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a radiant heater which is more efficient than those available heretofore.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an efficient method for providing radiant energy to a material to be heated.

It is another object of this invention to provide a radiant heater which heats materials more rapidly than heaters heretofore available with no increase in energy input rate.

Other objects of the invention will be evident from a reading of the description of the invention below.

FIG. 1 shows schematically a gas-fired radiant burner in accord with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows schematically an electrically heated ra diation emitting element in accord with another embodiment of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, we provide a method for determining the most efficient construction of a radiant heating device for a particular heating operation by. finding the most suitable material for making the radiant elements in the radiant heating device. As to be explained below, the present invention provides a method for selecting the material of construction of the radiant element in a radiant heating device to maximize the fraction of the heating value of fuel or electrical energy supplied to the radiant heating device which is ultimately absorbed by the work to be heated. This is accomplished by taking into consideration the emissivity of the radiant element, the nature of the radiation emitted by the radiant element, and the absorptivity of the work to be heated with respect to the radiation emitted by the particular radiating element.

Briefly, the invention provides a method for constructing a high efficiency radiant heating device to heat an absorber of radiant energy having particular wavelengths which comprises: finding materials which upon heating emit radiant energy having wavelengths closely corresponding to that absorbable by the absorber; selecting a material having a high emissivity from said materials; and making the radiation emitting element in the heating device from the selected material.

The present invention is based on the principle that the most efficient radiant heating devices are those which cause the maximum amount of the heat energy supplied to the heating devices to be absorbed by the work to be heated. Such an efficiency may be defined as the overall efficiency of a radiant heating'device. As indicated above, in the prior art, radiant heating devices have been designed to optimize the rated efiiciencies. However, the rated efficiency of a heating device only takes into account the emissive power of the heating or radiating element and it does not take into consideration whether or not the radiation emitted is of the type absorbable by the work to be heated. In accordance with the present invention, a method for manufacturing a radiant heating device is provided'wherein the radiating element is constructed from a material which emits a large amount of radiation within the wavelength region absorbable by the work.

The present invention is not particularly concerned with the geometry of construction of the radiant heaters. A prior art effort dealing-with the problem of optimum geometry of construction for a gas-fired radiant heater are shown, for example, by Schwank US. Pat. No. 2,775,294 and Swinderen US. Pat. No. 3,107,720. For the purposes of describing the present invention, it will be assumed that the optimum geometry and design is employed for the radiant device so that a minimum loss of heat to the surroundings by convection or conduction is realized. The present invention is primarily concerned with selection of the material of construction for the radiating element within the radiant heating device so that a maximum fraction of the heat supplied to the radiant heating device is ultimately absorbed by the work.

As indicated above, the fraction of the heat energy supplied to the radiant heating device that is absorbable by thework may be defined as the overall efficiency of the radiant heating device. This overall efficiency may be though of as the product of the rated efficiency of the heating device multiplied by a coupling efficiency between the heating device and the work to be heated. The rated efficiency of the heating device is generally a functioning of the emissivity of the radiating element within the heating device and the rate at which the heat energy is being supplied to the heating device.

The coupling efficiency is dependent not only on the nature of the radiating element but also on the absorptivity of the work with respect to the particular radiation being emitted by the radiating element. These items are more clearly illustrated by the following equations: W

n,=rated efficiency:

Radiant heat emitted by the heater Total heat or energy supplied to the heater 1 =coupling efficiency Radiant heat absorbed by work u h (I Radiant heat emitted by the heater X100 1 overall efficiency: 1;,X w

Radiant heat absorbed by the work X Total heat supplied to the heater BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 3,l07,720. The fuel and air mixture is usually burned near a grid or screen which forms the radiating element for emitting the desired radiant heat energy. When the hot gases pass throught the grid or screen, heat transfer takes place and the radiating element is heated to a temperature near that of the exhaust flue gases. For the purposes of the present discussion, it will be assumed that the temperature of the radiating element is equal to the temperature of the exhaust gases, which is equivalent to assuming that the heat transfer coefficient between the gases and the radiating element is so large as to be equal to infinity for practical purposes. We have found that such an assumption can be closely approximated by constructing the radiating element with a large heat transfer surface area, for example, by making the radiating element from a plurality of screen-like 'layers which form an opaque radiator but permit the hot gases to pass therethrough.

The overall efficiency, rated efficiency and coupling efficiency of various radiatingmaterials when used to heat various absorbers can be calculated from available data, to be indicated below. Alternatively, these efficiencies can be determined experimentally. Both of these approaches are explained below.

tomato/I'm U MA II where e is the emissivity of the radiating element; A represents wavelength; E is the emissive power of a black body; T is the temperature of the radiating element; M

is moles of fuel supplied to heating device; All is the heat of combustion per mole of fuel; and the remaining characters are various constants. The absorptivity of the work to be heated, or, also expressed above as a function'of k, can be represented by an equation similar in form to that for the emissivity of the radiating element as shown above with different constants.

The constants in the above equations can be determined for any particular material by fitting the equations to known data for emissivity and absorptivity for that material. Once the constants are determined fora particular radiating material and a particular work to be heated, the overall efficiency for using that radiating materialto radiantly heat the work can be calculated at various rates of supply of heat to the radiant heating device.

A common heating operation is one involving the evaporation of a thin film of water from a substrate. In

, such an operation, the overall efficiency is the amount of radiant heat energy absorbed by the thin film of water divided by the amount of heat energy supplied to the radiant heating device. Since the evaporation of a thin film of water is a common industrial occurrence, the rated efficiencies, coupling efficiencies and overall efficiencies of various material as the radiating element in a radiant heater for such an operation has been calculated at various rates of energy input to the heater. In these calculations, it was assumed that the radiating element would be present in the form of a screen having about percent solid area mounted in a fuel burning device, with arrangements for the hot flue gases to flow through the foraminous radiating element. The results of such calculations are tabulated below.

All of the areas mentioned refer to the solid or effective radiating area of the burner rather than the total area. For example, a burner of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,294 may have a range of about 67-80 percent solid area, and the values herein referring to square feet, or square foot of radiating element surface area refers to the 67-80 percent, not the gross size.

In addition, the coupling efficiencies of two absorbers other than a thin film of water has been calculated and these are also tabulated below. The substance I absorber shown in Table 6 is a hypothetical substance having an absorptivity equal to 1.0 forradiant energy having wavelengths between 0 and 2 microns but an absorptivity of zero for radiant energy having wavelengths greater than 2 microns. Various metals have approximately this absorptivity characteristic. Hypothetical substance 2, shown in Table 7, is an absorber having an absorptivity of 1.0 for radiant energy having wavelengths greater than 2.0 microns but having an absorptivity of zero for radiant energy having shorter wavelengths. Various materials such as vegetables, oxides of metals, etc., have approximately this characteristic.

In computing these tables, the properties of pure methane has been used as the fuel. Methane has a heat of combustion of about 83 BTU/SCF of stoichiometric methane and air. When interpolating in these tables for natural gas combustion, the actual heat input should be used for interpolation (natural gas has a heat of combustion of approximately 100 BTU/SCF of fuel and air mixture).

Table 1. RATED EFFICIENCIES OF FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS, ASSUMING MAXIMUM HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sq ft 250 2000 Blackbody 79.57 63.33 55.17 46.23 Beryllium 53.27 46.00 38.23 30.21 Carbon 63.88 56.21 47.58 38.85 Chromium 56.98 48.86 40.13 31.15 Iron 50.15 42.00 33.51 25.05 Molybdenum 47.61 40.00 31.75 28.79 Nickel 49.54 41.35 32.86 24.40 Palladium 46.90 38.69 30.24 22.04 Platinum 45.82 37.58 29.20 21.1 1 Rhodium 41.22 32.52 24.03 16.35 Silicon 66.80 59.20 50.72 41.58 Tantalum 48.77 40.20 31.46 23.00 Tungsten 49.35 41.30 33.00 24.72 Nickel Aluminate 67.55 59.86 51.27 42.05 Silicon Carbide 70.19 62.89 54.68 45.67 Tantalum Carbide 55.83 47.36 38.40 29.34 Aluminum Nitride 68.56 60.88 52.28 43.04 Boron Nitride 67.34 58.56 48.50 37.71 Aluminum Oxide 56.09 44.49 32.84 22.22 Beryllium Oxide 66.12 57.01 46.82 36.22 Cerium Oxide 54.51 44.68 34.62 24.95 Chromium Oxide 69.74 62.33 53.95 44.81 Manganese Oxide 63.29 54.61 45.04 35.05 Neodymium Oxide 55.60 44.83 33.72 23.31 Nickel Oxide 67.71 60.07 51.54 42.40 Silicon Oxide 65.76 56.07 44.89 33.06 Thorium Oxide 50.90 40.01 29.42 19.88 Zinc Oxide 66.76 57.44 46.72 35.32 Zirconium Oxide 58.87 48.51 37,80 27.44 Mantle Fabric 37.41 25.49 15.86 9.12 Oxidized lnconel 67.11 59.51 51.08 42.09 Al,0, with Mo Coating 51.53 45.15 38.23 30.90 Water Film Fingerprint" 61.61 51.75 40.62 29.1 1 Vanadiuln 48.61 40.71 32.53 24.42

Table 2. RATED OUTPUTS 10* Btu/hr.-sq ft) OF FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS, ASSUMING MAXIMUM HEAT, TRANSFER COEFFICIENT Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sqfi 250 500 1000 2000 Blackbody 1.467 2.632 4.587 7.687 Beryllium 1.107 1.912 3.197 5.024 Carbon 1.328 2.336 3.973 6.460 Chromium 1.184 2.031 3.336 5.180 Iron 1.042 1.746 3.786 4.165 Molybdenum 0.9896 1.654 2.640 3.956 Nickel 1.030 1.719 2.732 4.064 Palladium 0.9748 1.608 2.514 3.664 Platinum 0.95 23 1.562 2.428 3.510 Rhodium 0.8569 1.352 2.000 2.719 Silicon 1.388 2.461 4.217 6.914

Tantalum 1.014 1.671 2.616 3.825 Tungsten 1.026 1.717 2.742 4.111 Vanadium 1.010 1.692 2.705 4.060 Nickel Aluminate 1.404 2.488 4.263 6.992 Silicon Carbide 1.459 2.614 4.546 7.595 Tantalum Carbide 1.160 1.969 3.193 4.879 Aluminum Nitride 1.425 2.531 4.347 7.157 Boron Nitride 1.400 2.434 4.033 6.272 Aluminum Oxide 1.168 1.850 2.730 3.696 Beryllium Oxide 1.374 2.370 3.892 6.024 Cerium Oxide 1.133 1.857 2.878 4.149 Chromium Oxide 1.450 2.591 4.485 7.452 Manganese Oxide 1.315 2.270 3.744 5.829 Neodymium Oxide 1.156 1.864 2.803 3.876 Nickel Oxide 1.408 2.497 4.285 7.050 Silicon Oxide 1.367. 2.331 3.732 5.500 Thorium Oxide 1.058 1.664 2.446 3.306 Zinc Oxide 1.388 2.388 3.885 5.874 Zirconium Oxide 1.224 2.017 3.143 4.564 Mantle Fabric 0.777 1.060 1.319 1.517 Oxidiied lnconel 1.395 2.474 4.247 7.000 A1,0, with Mo Coating 1.071 1.877 3.179 5139 Water Film l Fingerprint 1.291 2.151 3.377 4.841

Table 3. RATED TEMPERATURES OF RADIATING ELEMENTS IN FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS, ASSUMING MAXIMUM HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sq ft 250 500 1000 2000 "R R "R "R Blackbody 1728 1994 2286 2597 Beryllium 2352 2607 2869 3133 Carbon 1974 2249 2543 2848 Chromium 2222 2507 2805 3 103 Iron 2462 2742 3026 3298 Molybdenum 2550 2817 3084 3337 Nickel 2483 2764 3048 3 316 Palladium 2574 2854 3133 3390 Platinum 2612 2892 3163 3418 Rhodium 2769 3059 3329 3557 Silicon 1867 2143 2442 2756 Tantalum 2510 2803 3093 3360 Tungsten 2489 2766 3044 3307 Vanadium 2515 2786 3058 3317 Nickel Aluminate 1841 2120 2423 2740 Silicon Carbide 1742 2009 2303 2616 Tantalum Carbide 2263 2558 2864 3162 Aluminum Nitride 1803 2083 2387 2707 Boron Nitn'de 1848 2166 2519 2887 Aluminum Oxide 2254 2657 3048 3384 Beryllium Oxide 1893 2212 2577 2937 Cerium Oxide 2309 2650 2990 3301 Chromium Oxide 1760 2031 2329 2646 Manganese Oxide 1997 2306 2639 2975 Neodymium Oxide 2270 2646 3020 3351 Nickel Oxide 1834 21 12 2413 2729 Silicon Oxide 1906 2254 2643 3041 Thorium Oxide 2436 2809 3159 3455 Zinc Oxide 1870 2206 25 2967 Zirconium Oxide 2155 2519 2884 3222 Mantle Fabric 2897 3284 3571 3756 Oxidized lnconel 1857 2132 2429 2739 A1 0, with Mo Coating 2413 2634 2870 311 1 Water Film Fingerprint 2057 2406 2789 3 169 Table 4. COUPLING EFFICIENCIES OF FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS (Assuming Maximum Heat Transfer) WITH THIN FILM OF WATER AS ABSORBER Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sq ft 250 500 1000 2000 k Blackbody 46.75 43.62 39.72 35.44 Beryllium 26.29 22.22 18.67 15 .73 Carbon 41.96 37.84 33.42 29.15 Chromium 37.28 33.10 29.02 25.36 Iron 30.15 25.85 22.08 19.03 Molybdenum 24.34 20.27 16.89 14.25 Nickel 29.43 25.16 21.44 18.46 Palladium 26.45 22.58 19.30 16.71 Platinum 25.90 21.84 18.48 15.89 Rhodium 29.00 24.60 21.02 18.39 Silicon 44.70 41.20 37.14 32.93 Tantalum 31.38 26.94 23.02 19.85 Tungsten 27.02 22.81 19.20 16.33 Vanadium 25.15 20.94 17.46 14.75 Nickel Aluminate 45.85 42.37 38.26 33.95 Silicon Carbide 46.47 43.37 39.53 35.32

Tantalum Carbide 37.47 33.03 28.78 25.06 Aluminum Nitride 46.46 43.12 39.06 34.70 Boron Nitride 48.39 46.77 44.54 41.88 Aluminum Oxide 49.12 45.88 42.26 38.99 Beryllium Oxide 46.67 44.42 41.38 37.86 Cerium Oxide 42.00 38.02 33.97 30.33 Chromium Oxide 46.59 43.53 39.74 35.59 Man ese Oxide 43.82 40.88 37.48 33.97 Ne ymium Oxide 44.86 42.40 39.62 36.91 Nickel Oxide 45.65 42.10 37.91 33.52 Silicon Oxide 49.30 49.00 48.52 47.83 Throium Oxide 44.93 40.36 36.00 32.45 Zinc Oxide 49.07 47.97 46.42 44.54 Zirconium Oxide 47.36 43.22 38.71 34.53 Mantle Fabric 47.01 44.95 42.80 41.06 Oxidized lnconel 44.85 41.04 36.64 32.12 A1,0, with Mo Coating 10.20 8.57 7.21 6.09 Water Film "Fingerprint" 59.87 59.62 59.09 58.48

Table 5. OVERALL EFFICIENCIES OF FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS (Assuming Maximum Heat Transfer) WITH THIN FILM OF WATER AS ABSORBER Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sq ft 250 500 1000 2000 I: k I; Blackbody 32.99 27.62 21.91 16.38 Beryllium 14.00 10.22 7.14 4.75 Carbon 26.80 21.27 15.97 11.32 Chromium 21.24 16.17 11.64 7.90 Iron 15.12 10.86 7.40 4.77 Molybdenum 11.59 8.07 5.36 3.39 Nickel 14.58 10.40 7.45 4.51 Palladium 12.40 8.74 5.84 3.68 Platinum 11.87 8.21 5.40 3.36 Rhodium 1 1.95 8.00 5.05 3.01 Silicon 29.86 24.39 18.86 13.69 Tantalum 15.31 10.83 7.24 4.57 Tungsten 13.33 9.42 6.33 4.04 Vanadium 12.22 8.53 5.68 3.60 Nickel Aluminate 30.97 25.36 19.61 14.28 Silicon Carbide 32.62 27.28 21.61 16.13 Tantalum Carbide 20.92 15.64 1 1.05 7.35 Aluminum Nitride 31.86 26.25 20.42 14.93 Boron Nitride 32.59 27.39 21.60 15.80 Aluminum Oxide 27.55 20.41 13.88 8.66 Beryllium Oxide 30.86 25.32 19.38 13.71 Cerium Oxide 22.89 16.99 11.76 7.57 Chromium Oxide 32.49 27.13 21.44 15.95 Man ese Oxide 27.73 22.32 16.88 11.91 Ne ymium Oxide 24.94 19.01 13.35 8.60 Nickel Oxide 30.91 25.87 19.54 14.21 Silicon Oxide 32.42.. 27.48 21.78 15.81 Thorium Oxide 22.87 16.15 10.58 12.97 Zinc Oxide 32.76 27.55 21.69 15.73 Zirconium Oxide 27.88 20.96 14.62 9.48 Mantle Fabric 17.59 11.46 6.79 3.75 Oxidized lnconel 30.10 24.42 18.72 13.52 A1,0, with Mo Coating 5.26 3.87 2.76 1.88 Water Film Fingerprint? 36.90 30.85 24.00 17.02

, Table 6. COUPLING EFFICIENCIIES OF FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS (Assuming Maximum Heat Transfer) WITH SUBSTANCE 1 ABSORBER Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sq h 50 500 1000 2000 I: I: Blackbody 93.80 88.60 81.72 73.81 Be Ilium 57.68 49.54 42.15 35.85 Car n 86.20 78.77 70.46 62.13 Chromium 78.06 70.13 62.11 54.75 Iron 63.83 55.28 47.60 41.28 Molybdenum 54.54 46.09 38.83 33.04 Nickel 62.57 53.95 46.30 40.09 Palladium 58.56 50.59 43.63 38.02 Platinum 57.14 48.79 41.68 36.11 Rhodium 60.59 51.80 44.54 39.14 Silicon 90.86 84.69 77.23 69.23 Tantalum 67.97 59.09 51.01 44.32 Tungsten 61.65 52.87 45.08 38.70 Vanadium 55.17 46.44 39.04 33.18 Nickel Aluminate 92.07 86.20 78.85 70.80 Silicon Carbide 93.65 88.46 81.62 73.79 Tantalum Carbide 79.30 71.12 62.89 55.41 Aluminum Nitride 93.19 87.65 80.45 72.34 Boron Nitride 97.06 94.26 90.21 85.26 Aluminum Oxide 94.51 89.36 83.14 77.23 Beryllium Oxide 96.12 92.13 86.32 79.35

Cerium Oxide 87.01 79.84 72.13 64.95 Chromium Oxide 93.85 88.80 82.12 74.43 Man Oxide 92.15 86.90 80.49 73.62 Neodymium Oxide 94.31 90.13 85.00 79.72 Nickel Oxide 91.89 85.85 78.29 70.03 Silicon Oxide 99.35 98.58 97.32 95.68 Thorium Oxide 87.41 79.61 71.78 65.28 Zinc Oxide 98.19 96.36 93.63 90.18 Zirconium Oxide 91.95 85.24 77.37 69.74 Mantle Fabric 94.00 89.00 85.58 82.10 Oxidized lneonel 90.59 83.96 75.89 67.27 ALO, with Mo Coating 27.70 23.26 19.47 16.36 Water Film Fingerprint" 98.36 97.40 96.31 95.28

Table 7. COUPLING EFFICIENCIES OF FLOW-THROUGH RADIATORS (Assuming Maximum Heat Transfer) WITH SUBSTANCE 2" ABSORBER Radiating Material Velocity, SCF/hr-sq ft 250 500 1000 2000 I: k I: Blackbody 6.27 11.40 18.28 26.19 Beryllium 42.32 50.46 57 .85 64.15 Carbon 13.80 21.23 29.54 37.89 Chromium 21.94 29.86 37.89 45.25 Iron 36.17 44.72 52.39 58.71 Molybdenum 45 .46 53.91 61.17 66.97 Nickel 37.43 46.05 53.70 59.92 Palladium 41.44 49.41 56.37 61.97 Platinum 42.86 51.21 58.32 63.89 Rhodium 39.41 48.20 55.46 60.86 Silicon 9.20 15.31 22.77 30.77 Tantalum 32.03 40.91 48.99 55.68 Tungsten 38.35 47.13 54.92 61.30 Vanadium 44.83 53.56 60.96 66.82 Nickel Aluminate 7.93 13.80 21.15 29.20 Silicon Carbide 6.35 11.54 18.38 26.21 Tantalum Carbide 20.71 28.88 37.1 1 44.59

Aluminum Nitride 6.81 12.35 19.56 27.66 Boron Nitride 2.94 5.74 9.79 14.74 Aluminum Oxide 5.49 10.64 16.86 22.77 Beryllium Oxide 3.88 7.87 13.68 20.65 Cerium Oxide 12.99 20.16 27.87 35.05 Chromium Oxide 6.15 11.20 17.88 25.57 Manganese Oxide 7.85 13.10 19.51 26.38 Neodymium Oxide 5.69 9.87 15.00 20.28 Nickel Oxide 8.11 14.15 21.71 29.96 Silicon Oxide 0.65 1.42 2.68 4.32 Thorium Oxide 12.59 20.39 28.22 34.77 Zinc Oxide 1.81 3.64 6.37 9.82 Zirconium Oxide 8.05 14.76 22.63 30.26 Mantle Fabric 6.00 10.10 14.42 17.90 Oxidized Ineonel 9.40 16.03 24.1 1 32.72 ALO, with Mo Coating 72.30 76.74 80.53, 83.64 WaterFilm Fingerprint" 1.64 2.60 3.69 4.72

In the above tables, the amount of heatinput to the radiant heating device is expressed in tenns of velocity of the fuel input. The velocities. given in the tables represent 'the total of a methane and air mixture, present in a ratio of 1:10, respectively, supplied to the heater. Thus, a velocity of 250 SCF/hr-sq. ft. represents an input of about 23 standard cubic feet of methane, which is substantially pure methane, and 227 standard cubic feet of air per hour per square foot of radiating element surface area. The actual heat input is obtained by multiplying by 83.1 BTU/SCF.

From the above tables it can be seen that although a black body has the best rated efficiency, due to its high emissivity, it does not necessarily possess the best coupling efficiency, for a particular absorber, or the best overall efficiency. Referring to Table 4, it can be seen that the coupling efficiency of aluminum oxide, silicone oxide, zinc 'oxide and zirconium oxide all have better coupling efficiencies with a thin film of water as the abosrber than a black body radiator. More-over, as seen in Table 5, the high coupling efficiency of aluminum oxide in not sufficient to compensate for its relatively low rated efficiency, as indicated in Table 1, so that the overall efficiency of aluminum oxide radiator with respect to a thin film of water as an absorber is much lower than that for zinc oxide. In fact, the overall efficiency of zinc oxide as a radiator, with a thin film of water as an absorber, is almost as high as that for a theoretical black body. 7

Referring to Table 7, it is seen that the coupling efficiencies of almost all listed materials are very high, when used to heat a substance 2 absorber, with the exception of aluminum oxide with molybdenum coating radiator. On the other hand, as indicated in Table 6, most of the listed materials have relatively low coupling efficiencies when used to heat a substance 1 absorber. Thus, if a black body radiator is employed to heat a substance having an absorptivity of about 1.0 for radiating energy with a wavelength of 2 microns or above, but with an absorptivity of about for radiant energy with wavelengths less than 2 microns, the overall efficiency would range from only slightly more than 4 to about 12 percent, for the inputs indicated. On the other hand, if an aluminum oxide with molybdenum coating radiator is employed for this same purpose, the overall efficiency would range from about 37 to percent. This clearly demonstrates that a black body is not necessarily the best material for constructing the radiant element in a radiant heating device.

The above method for determining the overall efficiencies of various radiant heating elements when heating a particular absorber has been confirmed by experimental results. 7

In one experiment, the overall efficiency of an lnconel radiator was determined as follows. An endless strip of Mylar film, 0.003 to 0.005 inch thick, was horizontally mounted on twoguide rollers. One of the rollers was driven by a motor to impart motion to the Mylar film. A thin film of water about 0.01 mm thick was deposited onto the Mylar by passing the same through a water reservoir having a squeegee therein. After picking up the film of water, the Mylar strip was passed under a horizontally mounted, overhead radiant bumer to evaporate the water. This cycle was repeated for a given period of time, say an hour, and the amount of water evaporated determined. The burner was of the North American flat flame type burning a metered amount of a fuel mixture containing natural gas and air in a molar ratio of about 1:10. The radiating element in this burner was made of 12 layers of lnconel screen arranged in a manner to make the entirev radiator opaque, i.e. 100 percent solid. In this manner, there was avery high effective heat transfer coefficient between the hot flue gases and the radiator. When this radiant heat device was operated to evaporate the thin film of water on the Mylar strip, it was found that the overall efficiency was 19.2 percent at a total heat input of 72.000 BTU/hr-sq. ft. and. it was 18 percent at 108.000 BTU/hr-sq. ft. These experimentally obtained overall efficiencies for an lnconel radiator agree well with the calculated values of 19.8 and 17.5 percent, re-

spectively, interpolated from Table 1 above. Measurements made on a silica radiator corresponding to an input of 40,000 BTU/hr ft give an overall efficiency of 27.3 percent which compares to an interpolated value of 27.8 percent.

The agreement between the experimentally obtained overall efficiencies and those calculated from available radiation data shows that the calculations method can be used to find the most effective materials for making the radiating element in a heater for heating a particular absorber. However, the present invention is not dependent on this agreement.

Thus far, the invention has been described with respect to a fuel burning radiant heater having a single radiating element therein. However, the method of the invention is also applicable to radiant heaters having a plurality of radiating elements, as seen, for example, in the Figures. Thus, it is possible to construct a radiant heater 1 having two parallel, in-line radiators to increase the overall efficiency of the radiant heater in heating the radiation absorbing work 2. One such embodiment of a radiant heating device having two radiating elements 3 and 4, may be made by providing two flat, parallel in-line radiators wherein the first radiator 3 is opaque for all practical purposes and the second radiator 4 is structured like a screen and has about percent of its surface as open area. The opaque first radiator maybe made by super-imposing a plurality of screens on each other so that nolight can directly pass through them or by using a drilled hole burner block, 3, which is almost opaque if the hole depth is at least three times its diameter. When a fuel burning radiant device contains two such in-line radiators, a fuel-air mixture 5 may be passed through the first radiator and burned near its surface 6. The hot flue gases 7 from the first radiator are then passed to the second radiator 4 to heat the same, and the combustion products removed as at 8. Other intermediate screen-like radiators 9,, 10, 11, etc., may also beemployed.

FIG. 2 shows a plural radiators embodiment in which the first radiator is a reflective surface 13 heated by radiation from electrical resistance element 12, in place of 'the burner block assembly 3 in FIG. 1. This first element is a radiator since there is no gas flow to recover the energy radiated in the direction away from the work. No combustion products removal is required in this embodiment.

Table 8 indicates the calculated results of using a reradiator with 20 percent solid area. Several of the single radiator results are shown therefor comparison purposes. It is observed that oxidized lnconel is the poorest of the single radiators included in the table. The overall behavior of lnconel is very similar to the experimental data we have obtained on commercially available burners. These burners usually are rated at an input of 400 SCFH (approximately 40,000 BTU/hr).

TAB LE 8 [Eiiicinncios of burners with reradiating screens heating a thin film of water 0.01 mm. thick] Input flow rate of stoichiomctric methane and air 250 s.c.f.h./it.

Input flow rate ofstoichiornctric methane and air 250 s.c.f.h./1t. 500 s.e.f.h./it. 1000 s.c.f.h./ft.'- 2009 s.c.r.h./[1.- Principal Reradiator radiator (20% solid area) CE RE 013* CE RE OE* CE RE 013* CE" RE (J I (3110; C110 46. 34 73. 60 34.11 43. 12 66. 41 28. 64 39. 13 57. 98 22. 72 34. 91 48. 54 115.1 4 Oxidized lnconel 44. 85 67.11 30.10 41.04 59. 51 24.42 36. 64 51. 08 18. 72 32. 12 42.09 13. F2 S 49. 30 65. 75 32. 42 49. 00 56. 07 27. 48 48. 52 44. 89 21. 78 47. 83 33.01: 15. a1 46. 59 60. 74 32. 49 43. 53 62. 35 27. 13 39. 74 53. 95 21. 44 35. 59 44. 31 15.115 48. 39 67. 34 32. 59 46. 77 58. 56 27. 39 44. 54 48. 50 21. 60 41. 83 37. 71 15.39 49.07 66. 76 32. 76 47. 97 57. 44 27. 55 4G. 42 4G. 72 21. 69 44. 54 35. 32 15. 73

CE Coupling efficiency, RE Rated eificiency, OE Overall efficiency.

Nora- The heat transfer coefficient between the gas and all the radiators is assumed to be large.

The other four materials yield overall efficiencies for single radiators which are extremely close to each other and considerably better than oxidized lnconel. It is ob served that the overall efficiencies of each of these single materials are better than the efficiency of the lnconel-inconel reradiator system. This lnconel-Inconel system may be considered representative of commercially available burners. (The primary radiator is usually made of clay, not lnconel, but the radiation properties of the clay are relatively close to those of lnconel.) Experimental values of present day burners match those of the computed value of lnconel.

One might assume that the best performance would be obtained by combining silica with silica since it is a very good single radiator. However, the best performance is obtained with a combination of silica and chromium oxide. The performance of this pair is better than either SiO SiO or Cr O Cr O As individual radiators, silica exhibits the largest coupling efficiency while chromium oxide exhibits the lowest (except Inconel) even though the overall efficiencies are approximately the same. This leads us to conclude that silica has a poor coupling efficiency with chromium oxide and that this fact is responsible for the superior operation of the SiO Cr 0 combination. It thus appears that thebest arrangement for a reradiator system is one having its two elements made of different materials each having a high overall efficiency and coupling efficiencies which are as different as possible. However, if. the two coupling efficiencies are the same (for example, the same material), the overall efficiency obtained will be higher than using another material with the same rated efficiency but having poorer coupling efficiency. A

All the above results are presented for the instance when the percent solid area of the second radiator is 20 percent. Calculations have also been made on 50 and 80 percent for some of these combinationsA slight increase over the 20 percent solid area result is usually noted for the 50 percent solid area and a slight decrease for the 80 percent solid area. Thus, the same results will be obtained for different values of this parameter.

There are many applications of the principles of our invention where it is advantageous to use a material that is a poor coupler. For example, furnace walls may be a poor coupler and in this case heat losses would be reduced since less heat transfers thereto.

in addition, coupling contrast is an important feature of this invention. By this is meant the use of two or more materials having coupling differences that provide for selective heat transfer. An example is printing ink onto paper. Poor coupling between the burner and paper, while the ink has good coupling, causes faster ink drying and at the same time prevents paper scorching.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method for making a high efficiency radiant heating device having a plurality of radiation emitting elements therein for heating an absorber of radiant energy comprising the steps of:

a. determining the particular wave lengths in which said absorber absorbs radiant energy,

b. determining the wave lengths of materials which upon heating emit radiant energy,

0. selecting from said materials at least one material having high emissivity at wave lengths substantially corresponding to said particular wave lengths of said absorber.

d. forming said radiation emitting elements from said selected material, and

e. assembling said elements in association with a means for supplying heat to said element in a parallel in-line relationship, each of said elements being made from a material selected from said materials and having a high emissivity.

2. A method according to claim I wherein said heat supplying means is of the electric resistance type.

3. A method according to claim I wherein said radiant heating device is of the fuel-burning type and at least one of said radiation emitting elements is a foraminous, screen-like structure having about 70-85 percent of its surface area open for the. passage of flue gases.

supplying means is of thefuel-burning type.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said materials selection step includes selecting materials having different coupling efficiencies, and having high overall efficiencies with respect to said absorber.

7. In a radiant heating device having at least one radiation emitting element therein which upon heating emits radiant energy for transfer to an absorber of radiant energy, the improvement wherein said heating device includes two parallel in-line radiation emitting elements, each of said elements being made from a material which has a high emissivity and which emits radiant energy upon being heated which has wave lengths substantially corresponding to the particular wave lengths at which said absorber absorbs radiant energy.

8. The device according to claim 7 wherein said element is heated by electric resistance means.

9. The radiant heating device according to claim 7 wherein said elements are heated by burning fuel and at least one of said elements is a foraminous, screenlike structure having about 20-85 percent of its surface area open for the passage of flue gases.

10. The radiant heating device according to claim 9 wherein said structure has about 70-85 percent of its surface area open.

11. The radiant heating device according to claim 7 wherein said elements are made from the same material;

12. A method for heating an absorber of radiant energy having particular wave lengths comprising providing a radiant heating device having two parallel in-line radiation emitting elements therein, each of said elements being made from a material which has a high emissivity and which emits radiant energy upon being ments are made from the same material.

said 

1. A method for making a high efficiency radiant heating device having a plurality of radiation emitting elements therein for heating an absorber of radiant energy comprising the steps of: a. determining the particular wave lengths in which said absorber absorbs radiant energy, b. determining the wave lengths of materials which upon heating emit radiant energy, c. selecting from said materials at least one material having high emissivity at wave lengths substantially corresponding to said particular wave lengths of said absorber. d. forming said radiation emitting elements from said selected material, and e. assembling said elements in association with a means for supplying heat to said element in a parallel in-line relationship, each of said elements being made from a material selected from said materials and having a high emissivity.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said heat supplying means is of the electric resistance type.
 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said radiant heating device is of the fuel-burning type and at least one of said radiation emitting elements is a foraminous, screen-like structure having about 70-85 percent of its surface area open for the passage of flue gases.
 4. A method according to claim 3 wherein said radiation emitting element has about 80 percent of its surface area open.
 5. A method according to claim 1 wherein said heat supplying means is of the fuel-burning type.
 6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said materials selection step includes selecting materials having different coupling efficiencies, and having high overall efficiencies with respect to said absorber.
 7. In a radiant heating device having at least one radiation emitting element therein which upon heating emits radiant energy for transfer to an absorber of radiant energy, the improvement wherein said heating device includes two parallel in-line radiation emitting elements, each of said elements being made from a material which has a high emissivity and which emits radiant energy upon being heated which has wave lengths substantially corresponding to the particular wave lengths at which said absorber absorbs radiant energy.
 8. The device according to claim 7 wherein said element is heated by electric resistance means.
 9. The radiant heating device according to claim 7 wherein said elements are heated by burning fuel and at least one of said elements is a foraminous, screen-like structure having about 20-85 percent of its surface area open for the passage of flue gases.
 10. The radiant heating device according to claim 9 wherein said structure has about 70-85 percent of its surface area open.
 11. The radiant heating device according to claim 7 wherein said elements are made from the same material.
 12. A method for heating an absorber of radiant energy having particular wave lengths comprising providing a radiant heating device having two parallel in-line radiation emitting elements therein, each of said elements being made from a material which has a high emissivity and which emits radiant energy upon being heated at wave lengths closely corresponding to said particular wave lengths, and supplying heat to said elements to generate radiant energy for absorption by said absorber.
 13. A method according to claim 12 wherein said heat is supplied in the form of electrical energy.
 14. A method according to claim 12 wherein said heat is supplied by the burning of fuel.
 15. A method according to claim 12 wherein said elements are made from the same material. 